A Twist Of Fate
by Lula
Summary: Something strange has happened in Zaibach, and now Celena ends up in the middle of it. But with war brewing, what side does she really belong on, and with who? Celena/Dilandau, Folken/Celena Yay! Back From the Dead! Chp. 3
1. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
  
  
"You see, sir, the new weaponry Lord Folken ordered still has a few preparations left to be handled, but Chesta will see to it." Viole stopped a brief moment as he realized his superior officer was not walking with him. He turned and looked down the hall to see Dilandau standing a few yards away, very still and expressionless.  
  
"Sir? What is wrong?" asked Viole, noticing his commander was wavering on his feet. His eyes seemed to stare at nothing, yet they were locked on one spot of the wall. Viole strode back to him and put his hand on Dilandau's shoulder, only for it to be hastily shrugged off as he quickly came back to life.  
  
"Nothing," Dilandau snarled as he stood straighter, returning to his normal self. He ignored Viole walking beside him as he started marching off down the dismal corridor. Viole was smart enough to keep his mouth firmly clamped as they strode off to the soldiers' quarters as he could see the angry albino was in no mood to be spoken to. Dilandau stopped at his door and opened it.  
  
"You're dismissed, Viole," he threw over his shoulder as he started advancing into his room.  
  
"Oh, um, Lord Dilandau," Viole spoke hesitantly, praying he would not get slapped.  
  
Dilandau turned around at the sound of Viole's hushed voice and furrowed his brow, waiting for Viole to continue.  
  
"Um, well, you see-"  
  
"Viole, my patience is wearing thin. Speak!" Dilandau commanded in a harsher tone than he had meant to.  
  
Viole swallowed nervously. "I just wanted to say... Happy birthday." He immediately turned and fled down the corridor, not waiting for Dilandau's response.  
  
Though if he had waited, he would have had to wait a very long time. Dilandau stood there, an expression of shock plastered across his face. He had not told anyone it was his birthday. Not that it would have mattered to him. He did not want anyone celebrating his birthday. Much less him. That only meant he had spent another year in this hellhole. Once he had gotten over the shock, he sneered and turned sharply on his heel, only to trip and fall flat on his face.  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later he wearily sat down in bed. Something was very wrong. He felt like he was ready to faint from exhaustion, which was an almost nonexistent feeling for him. Even after a major battle he didn't feel this tired or weak.  
  
He slowly reached down and pulled off his heavy, red boots, soon followed by his armor, pants, and violet shirt, and he slipped under his black silk sheets and lay his head down onto his soft pillow. He grimaced as he felt pain shoot up along the spine of his back, so he flipped over onto his stomach. Almost automatically his arms wrapped around his pillow, bringing it closer to him as if he was embracing a person. He sighed and sunk further into the sheets, giving himself fully to the comfort of his bed after a long day. His mind started churning as he tried to fall asleep.  
  
His birthday. He was now fifteen years old. At least, that was what his superiors said. He didn't quite know if that was right, for he couldn't remember a thing before he was around eight years old, if he had been eight at the time. Folken had once said that the age had been technically correct, though he hadn't known what Strategos had meant by "technically".  
  
For the first time he realized that he had no memories of his childhood. He could not remember his family, or if he had even had a family. He could not remember where he had lived or what he had done. Something about that was very wrong. But then again, everything was confusing to him from that point. Except one thing. He worked for the Zaibach Empire only and he was the notorious leader of his handpicked Dragonslayers.  
  
After that, everything was mismatched and jumbled in his mind. When he was about age eight until he was about the age of twelve, he would have odd blackouts and fainting spells. When he woke up, it would be hours or days later. The only explanation he received was that he had a form of narcolepsy, but that was hard to believe since he never felt tired or weak before the blackouts happened. He had tried to figure it out, but really had no reason to when they stopped at about thirteen.  
  
At times his dreams at night would show a windy, flower-laden field, swept over by a thunderstorm. At other times his dreams would show him a young girl, encased in shadows. He could only see parts of her face and her hair. Her eyes were devoid of emotion, lifeless and dull. She almost looked dead. At one time a long time ago he had dreamt of the ocean, which was very strange, as he had never seen the ocean even once in his life. He was swimming underneath the tides, but he could not come up for air. Things grew dark around him, his lungs burned, his heart raced. Yet he could not find a way to get out of there. His mind began to panic and water started to fill his lungs. He had woken up right then.  
  
Dilandau groaned and rolled over onto his side, willing himself to sleep. Something just seemed out of the ordinary at that moment, but his senses told him everything was as it should be. There was a thick silence nestled in the air, not daring to be broken.  
  
He did not realize his eyes had closed, or that his breathing started to become steadier. After one last thought, he fell fast asleep.  
  
That night, terrible nightmares plagued him. In his mind, he could hear the pitiful crying of a small girl, see the wretched sorcerers that had tortured him. Fire raged in the background and wind howled in his ears. It seemed everything was random, coming and going quickly. He felt dizzy and unstable while his surroundings seemed to tilt and rock like a ship in a hurricane. He was surrounded by blackness for a while, a thick blackness that felt like swimming in water. Finally, right before he awoke, a severe pain spread throughout him. It felt as if he were splitting right down the middle, while the sounds of someone's voice boomed in his ears. It was his own screams of agony.  
  
Bright garnet eyes flew open and he breathed a sigh of relief, lying still. It was just a nightmare, and it was now morning. Regaining his senses, he thought over his nightmare and frowned. He didn't feel right. It felt as though something important was missing. He chuckled at himself for wondering such things. Everything was as it should be...  
  
Or was it?  
  
Something slightly heavy was lying upon his right arm. His eyebrow raised as his eyes searched within his vision. His head slowly turned until he came face to face with...  
  
"What the hell?!" Dilandau half-yelled, jolting up out of bed in surprise. Beside him, sleeping quietly underneath his sheets, was a girl! Doing a double take, Dilandau quickly glanced over her face. Somehow she seemed familiar. He thought a moment in silence, trying to remember where he had seen that pale, delicate face and wavy blonde hair before.  
  
His thin eyebrows raised as he remembered. She was the girl from his dreams! That beautiful girl that he had seen in his dreams was actually real and alive! He looked over her peaceful face, down her neck, and across her bare shoulders. Taking a part of the black silk sheets between his thumb and index finger, he drew it down an inch or so and quickly covered it back up. She wasn't exactly clothed.  
  
"Great. That's all that I need," he muttered as he rested his head into his hands, bringing his knees up to his chin. He sat there in silence for a few minutes, contemplating a few things. For one, how she came to be in his bed; two, why she was there; three, how he was going to explain it; and four, how creepy it was that the girl he had dreamt about for so long was now beside him.  
  
The sound of his door sliding open made him look up to see Folken Lacour de Fanel enter his room, carrying a sword. "Well, good morning, Dilandau," he stated cynically, oblivious to the recent situation. He set the sheathed sword on the end table next to him and stepped forward. "I came to return the sword you..." he trailed off immediately as he noticed the unconscious girl lying there. His eyebrows narrowed and he looked towards the boy, who was completely avoiding his gaze. "Don't tell me you've started seducing girls already, Dilandau. Now, how do you explain this?"  
  
Dilandau glared back up to him. "How can I explain when I know nothing?" He glanced over to the other in his bed. "I don't know how she got here. I woke up and she was just there, all right?"  
  
Folken nodded. "Yeah, sure. Well then, when she wakes up, ask her."  
  
Dilandau raised his eyebrows as he gazed at the girl. "I think that will be soon." Folken glanced back to her as well. Her long eyelashes fluttered open to reveal cerulean eyes, very startled eyes.  
  
"What..." she said in confusion. She sat up, holding the black sheet to her neckline. Looking around, her face held an expression of fear. "Where... Where am I? What happened?" she asked.  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
She jumped in shock as the low voice reached her ears, noticing the two men in the room for the first time. "N-no!"  
  
Folken shot Dilandau an accusing look. 'What did he do, drug her up first?' he quietly thought to himself. "You're on the Vione, young lady."  
  
"The Vione? I don't believe I have ever heard of that..."  
  
Folken nodded to quiet her. "Well, no matter. What's your name?"  
  
"Celena, sir."  
  
Dilandau bit his lower lip and looked over to Folken. Celena, huh, that's funny. He could have sworn he heard that name before...  
  
"I am Folken, and this boy over here is Dilandau," Folken introduced, pointing to the younger albino with his right hand.  
  
Celena quietly gasped as she noticed the mechanical arm, but remained silent and quickly looked over to where Dilandau sat, fuming. "Boy, indeed," she heard him mutter.  
  
"Do you remember anything at all from last night?" Dilandau asked her suddenly, turning towards her. "Maybe you can recall how you got here if we start there."  
  
She cocked an eyebrow. "Last night? I was, uh, I was lying on a table... Jujuka, he... The sorcerers were..."  
  
Dilandau shot up suddenly upon hearing that, sitting up fully. "Sorcerers? You're one of the..." he trailed off. One of the children that they used, he had meant to say but couldn't quite bring himself to do it.  
  
Celena looked over to Folken, who was shaking his head. "Dear, dear," he mumbled. He glanced back up to the girl. "Well, you are safe from them now. I haven't heard of any of their doings for the past three years. They couldn't have started again. But, anyway, that is not important right now. I think I should see to the matter of getting you clothes to wear. We don't have many ladies here, you see." He turned to the door but paused when he thought of something. "How old are you, Celena? You look to be about Dilandau's age."  
  
The girl looked very confused. "I'm only twelve."  
  
Dilandau chuckled. "I would look at yourself a little closer, if I were you."  
  
Celena blinked in confusion and glanced downward as Folken quickly spoke up. "Dilandau, why don't you get dressed and go have breakfast while I settle some things?"  
  
Dilandau nodded reluctantly and dressed in his usual uniform, having been only in his boxer shorts from the night before. He gave one last wondering look at Celena ere he left.  
  
Once he was gone, Folken smiled and gestured towards the door with his head. "Don't mind him. He can be very exasperating at times. But, I will go see if I can find you something to wear. Stay here while I'm gone." He turned a little and remarked, "Don't worry. I'll figure out all of this soon." The door closed behind him, leaving Celena to sit in Dilandau's bed, still quite confused about the situation.  
  
  
  
About fifteen minutes later, Folken returned. In his hand was a white and dark blue uniform that was seemingly made out of vinyl, a pair of slim black ankle boots, and a few undergarments. He gently set them next to Celena, who was mentally sizing them up.  
  
"I hope these are all right. They might be a little long and oddly cut in some areas. After all, they are Eriya's," Folken commented as he stood.  
  
"Oh, Eriya?" Celena asked.  
  
"A friend of mine," he replied and began walking to the door. "Put those on and join me in the hall," he said as he left, giving Celena some privacy.  
  
She smiled as she looked at the clothes. "He's kind of nice," she thought quietly, meaning Folken. "I don't know about that other boy though. Seems kind of jumpy."  
  
  
  
After working out all of the intricate buttons, zippers, and hooks of the clothing, she was finally dressed. She turned and noticed a very large mirror on the far wall. Walking up to it, she checked over herself. The clothes fit her all right, only having a few uncomfortable spots, but that was not her main focus. Her appearance shocked her to no end. The last time she had seen herself in a mirror was... Well, it was too long ago to remember. It might have been never.  
  
It did make sense, although, that she was around her mid-teenage years by her body structure. She was tall and thin. Her hair was composed of waves of blonde that only reached a centimeter past her ear tip.  
  
She turned once more to the side, checking to make sure the pants were hiked up high enough. There was a large hole in them that reached the lower part of her back, almost as though it was made for a tail. Once she was sure everything was all right, she headed out of the room and found Folken leaning against the gray wall. He smiled one of his charming grins as he noticed the young girl in front of him. She was very lovely in that uniform. He stood and started walking off down the hall, Celena walking beside him.  
  
Celena looked up to his face as she walked along side of him, almost doing double steps to keep up with Folken's floating stride. He seemed to be thinking by his expression. She frowned as she noticed the purple tattoos that lined the corners of his eyes and the purple teardrop that lay upon his right cheek. His whitish blue hair was done in tiny loose spikes, while the wisps of hair that suited for bangs hung lightly over his forehead. His bright garnet eyes were focusing ahead of him, careful on where he was heading. Celena thought back to Dilandau and his similar features. Did all men here look like that?  
  
"Where are we going?" she inquired when she couldn't take much of his silence any longer.  
  
Folken glanced over to her. "Well, I suppose you would want breakfast. Correct?"  
  
Celena nodded. "Sure."  
  
  
  
A few minutes later they arrived in the dining hall, finding it deserted. "The soldiers are at training right now, I believe. So we have it to ourselves," Strategos confirmed, watching Celena from the corner of his eyes. She was standing near a table of food, cautiously eyeing some of it. She took a fork from one of the trays and carefully poked something that was unrecognizable. It answered with a wriggle and a weird sound, making Celena jump back a foot or two.  
  
"Folken, I think it squealed," she remarked in a creeped out tone.  
  
Folken took her by the shoulders and steered her towards the salad tray. "Knowing some of the food around here, it probably did," he replied.  
  
Celena only nodded and looked over the other foods, finding some of them not too bad. She picked up a plate and filled it with some sort of fruit salad, and then sat down in one of the empty chairs opposite of Folken. He had already selected his breakfast of choice, a grainy cereal with a helping of milk.  
  
"After breakfast, I'll show you around the Vione and maybe I'll introduce you to some of the soldiers around here. Then I suppose we can find you accommodations and go on from there," Folken explained.  
  
Celena nodded. "All right... I have to admit, I'm still a bit overwhelmed by all of this."  
  
"I can understand that, but it should get better as time goes on. And I'll find out how you came to be here, don't worry about that."  
  
Celena smiled. "Thank you."  
  
  
  
The sounds of metal ringing throughout the air were not enough to keep Dilandau's attention constant. He stood there quietly in a corner of the room, leaning upon the wall. Celena was the main point of his thoughts. It was so strange, this new puzzle. She looked like the girl from his dreams, no doubt. Her name he thought he had heard before somewhere. He was almost certain that he had heard of the one she called Jujuka before too.  
  
Yet how did she appear in his bed? He didn't remember her there when he went to sleep, for sure. The terrible dream from last night came up once or twice in his range of thinking. Could that have been a factor? It might have been naïve to think so, but could that nightmare have had anything to do with it? That bothered Dilandau quite a bit. It might have been a crazy idea, but nothing should be ruled out yet.  
  
Maybe someone had decided to play a practical joke on him? But it all seemed too real to be something like that. She did seem a little strange. That thought brought him to what she had said. The sorcerers. If she was one of the children they used for their overall insane and dangerous experiments, that might explain why she couldn't remember anything. But there was a factor to that. The sorcerers did not usually do experiments on older children above thirteen. At least, that is what he thought. When he had turned thirteen, they pushed him out of their laboratories and into the Zaibach army, like many other children he had seen. So why would Celena act like that if she were around fifteen or so? There were too many questions for him to wonder about, and he kept thinking about it as his Dragonslayers did sword-training exercises.  
  
Guimel smirked as he struck out again. He had made at least four mistakes already and Dilandau had not even yelled at him once. He looked over to where his commander was standing, stiff as a statue. Dilandau seemed to be thinking really hard, for certain. He shrugged and continued going through the routine drills. Dilandau was acting more and more strangely these days. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
When the two had finished their late breakfast in the dining hall, Celena and Folken concurrently walked around the Vione for awhile. As promised, Folken was giving her a small tour of the Zaibach fortress. He led her around a few of the bottom floors and showed her the Guymelef hangar and the building room. She had not seemed exceptionally interested in that, but Celena had paid attention nonetheless. Folken made sure to cut the explanations short when he saw that she was becoming bored with the mechanical objects, and he decided to move on. After they had bypassed the engine room and the first and second floor, they made their way up five flights of stairs to the main living area and soldier barracks. They walked up and down the long halls, looking at the extensive rooms. He pointed out and explained all of them to her as they strolled past them.  
  
"I guess I've forgotten some of these were even here. It's amazing what a refresher this is," he stated, noticing more rooms. "I haven't been around here in years, you see. The closest I've been here is Dilandau's room, which I don't go to very often, except on the occasion of this morning."  
  
"How long have you been here?"  
  
"Oh, it's been a long time. Close to a decade, I suppose. I came here when I was about your age."  
  
Celena nodded. "Why did you come here? Was it by choice?" She glanced at his face, seeing a deeply inset frown.  
  
Folken seemed to take a very big interest in the floor at that moment, for it took him a long moment to answer. "Let's just say, fate guided me here." He smiled and looked back up to her. "But that is in the past, isn't it? Besides, now is not the time to bring up past memories really. I believe we are still touring, aren't we?"  
  
An answering smile crept up on Celena's face as she noticed they were standing still in the middle of the corridor. "Yes, though I believe it was you who stopped."  
  
"Oh, no, no. I was merely following a young lady's example," Folken answered smoothly. He smiled at her and resumed walking down the hall, not waiting for her to follow.  
  
Celena jogged forward until she caught up with him. "Yeah, right," she replied as she fell in stride beside him. She pointed to a set of doorways with some strange markings on them. "What are those used for?"  
  
"Those are the Dragonslayers' quarters," he responded as he noted the symbols. He looked over to her and noticed her expression of thought and continued, "The Dragonslayers are the soldiers that Dilandau commands. There aren't many of them, only around fifteen or so. We only let Dilandau have that amount since we decided that was all he could really handle." He grinned and motioned to another door. "That would be the training area. They are probably in there right now. Do you want to take a look them?"  
  
Celena nodded. "Um, sure." Folken quietly slid open the door and stepped aside to let the younger girl see inside the room where the Dragonslayers were training.  
  
The Dragonslayers did amount to about fifteen, when she had counted them. Some were tall, some were short, a few looked tough as a brick wall, a few looked gentle as a lamb. Speaking of lamb. Her gaze came to rest on two boys. One had curly white hair that resembled wool. In truth, he looked very sheepish. The other boy, who was slightly taller and leaner, turned to him with a smirk on his face. His brown eyes were alight with mischief. His mouth opened and out came a very mocking sound. "Baa!"  
  
The wool-headed boy spun towards him and gave him a firm smack across the face. Celena smiled and giggled as she witnessed this. Hearing her laugh, wool-head turned towards her and grinned, waving his gloved hand. She gasped and ducked out the door quickly.  
  
Folken glanced towards her with an amused expression on his face. "Something wrong?"  
  
"Uh, no. No, nothing's wrong," she replied, stepping forward and taking another good peek inside. She caught sight of Dilandau standing near a far wall, appearing quite bored. He turned his head in their direction when he felt someone staring at him and noticed her. He gave a very small grin and nodded his head once towards her. She sweetly smiled in return, waving her hand. 'He's not so bad. Interesting, really,' she thought to herself, glancing over Dilandau.  
  
Celena stepped back and turned to Folken, wondering something. "Do they do this every day?"  
  
"Tease Guimel or train?" he asked.  
  
"You know, practice."  
  
"No, they only do it four days out of the week. I can't say that for Guimel though," he replied, taking another precarious glance inside the training room. "Do you want to be introduced to them?"  
  
Celena shook her head. "Maybe later. I don't really want to interrupt them." She peered down the hall. "What's next?"  
  
Folken stood up from his leaning position. "Well, I suppose we can go to my little hideout of the fortress. It isn't very far from here, unless you want to crawl there. It's just a few halls and some stairs. Follow me."  
  
  
  
When they arrived at Folken's little "hideout", which Folken had said would be only a few stairs yet turned out to be four floors above the barracks, Celena gaped in awe. It was actually two large rooms connected together by a small bathroom. They entered by the left door, which led to the study.  
  
In the study, hundreds of books were stacked neatly in several bookcases against the far wall. A large desk with strewn papers across its top was in front of them, making it look extremely unorganized. To the left wall was a small table with glasses and bottles of various concoctions in all different colors and densities.  
  
Like the sorcerers had, Celena thought. She frowned and cast her gaze somewhere else, keeping her mind away from the already gruesome memories of her childhood.  
  
Folken looked at the expressions flashing across her face in wonder. It seemed she always had something on her mind, making her moods change back and forth very abruptly. She was reserved in her manner though, only choosing to speak when necessary. He smiled as he thought about it. Reserved yet mysterious was a personality trait that he quite admired.  
  
"My bedroom is after the bathroom, but you really don't want to see that, trust me. We can go find Eriya and Naria if you want. Well, if we can find them, that is. They are usually at their favorite hangouts, you know."  
  
A loud knock upon the study door grated their ears from the quiet atmosphere. Folken frowned and looked towards the door. "Yes? What is it?"  
  
"Emperor Dornkirk has requested to see you, Lord Folken," was the reply from outside the door.  
  
"Is it urgent?"  
  
"No, Lord Folken, but the Emperor will not like to be kept waiting."  
  
Folken gave an exasperated sigh and glanced over to Celena. "I have to go, but you can stay here if you want. It shouldn't be long. His Majesty does not talk about much, just the usual plans for world domination and ideal futures."  
  
Celena nodded in bewilderment. "O-okay." Folken briskly turned and left the room, leaving Celena to stand there and wonder what to do. She casually walked over to the desk and glanced over the papers. Most had writing on them, but she only found interest in the sketches upon the table. They were drawings of artillery weapons, soldier uniforms, and some things she didn't understand. She picked up one and examined it, tracing the dark lines of the sketched sword. If Folken drew these, he was quite the artist. It was easily noticeable that everything was detailed in the most minor ways.  
  
She started drawing up a mental list of everything she had noticed about him so far. He was charming, nice, mysterious... He was quite handsome too. Celena smiled dreamily, but snapped back to reality as she had a thought. She had never felt anything close to this before. What was she feeling anyway? Confusion rolled over her, but she just shook her head and set the drawing down, changing her frame of thought. She looked over to the stack of books that lined the shelves and walked over to them. Glancing over the titles, she tried to pronounce some of them.  
  
"Guy.. Guymelef... Mod... Models," she stated, nodding in satisfaction. "And then there's... Re-gen-er-a-tion. Oh, regeneration." It did not help that the sorcerers had never bothered to teach her to read. Jajuka had brought her a book once and taught her some words. She smiled at the thought. She became so frustrated with one sentence that she threw the book down onto the floor and stomped away, coming back to it within an hour. That was probably the last thing she had read, when she was eight years old. The story was about a man and a bird, and their friendship. She remembered a few parts of it, but not many. Ha, the old memory was coming back to her now...  
  
*~*  
  
"What's that?" asked the little eight-year old version of her as she saw Jajuka was carrying something. He sat down next to her and placed the thin book in her hands.  
  
"It's a book, Celena. I was hoping to teach you some words," he stated, chuckling to himself as she hurriedly opened the book and glanced at it. "Do you know your alphabet?"  
  
Celena looked back up at him from the thin blue book. "I think I do... A, B, C, D, E, um... um, F! G, H, I, J, oh, um, K, L, N... Oh, wait, M, N, O, P, Q... Q... R! S, T, U..."  
  
By this time Jajuka was saying some of them with her, helping her with the ones she had forgotten. "Good, that would be all of them. Do you know how to read them?"  
  
Celena shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
Jajuka pointed to the first letter. "What is this?"  
  
"That would be... O!" she stated, smiling. "And after that is an... N."  
  
"Good," Jajuka answered. "Now what sounds do O make?"  
  
"Oh and ah," she replied, remembering her schooling when she was back home. "And N makes the nuh sound."  
  
"And in order to read words, you need to put them together, you see. This O makes the ah sound, and this N makes the nuh sound. So let's try them together."  
  
Celena nodded. They both said in unison, "Ah, nuh. Ahnuh. Ahn. On!"  
  
*~*  
  
She walked a little farther and slowly read the other book titles, picking one up that sparked her interest. Sitting down in the soft desk chair, she opened it and began to look through the first few pages.  
  
"Hmm... I wonder what this is about..." She read a few lines from the first page, and was so focused on her reading that she did not hear the door slide open and the approaching steps.  
  
"Day Of Kings, I think I have heard of that before."  
  
Celena jumped at the sudden voice, glancing up to see Dilandau standing there. "Oh, it's you."  
  
Dilandau nodded. "I figured I could find you here, knowing Folken. I needed to talk to you without him interrupting. Is he around?"  
  
Celena shook her head. "No, he went off to talk with some emperor, or something."  
  
"Oh, Emperor Dornkirk. Well, that might take a while," Dilandau stated, coming to sit on the side of the desk. Celena rolled the chair backwards a bit, keeping her distance from the peppery fifteen-year old. Dilandau smiled, amused at the small gesture. "Anyway, I was meaning to ask you about, well, for starters, you. I mean, you seem to be familiar to me for a few reasons, though I don't believe we have ever met before."  
  
"I don't think we have, either. You are not very familiar to me, though."  
  
Dilandau bit his bottom lip and nodded. "I see... Well, I was wondering why you said that you thought you were only twelve."  
  
She shrugged her shoulders. "That's the last time I can remember anything... I remember I had woken up from one of those blackouts that I usually get. It was about three days that I was awake before I started to..." she trailed off and stared down at the floor.  
  
After a minute, her voice came out in a hushed tone. "I started to have these weird things happen to me. I couldn't stay awake for very long. I... I felt so tired. And every time I tried to stand I would fall down. Once I stumbled onto the floor and... And then I started shaking uncontrollably. The sorcerers wouldn't do anything to help me. They strapped me down to a table and stuck me with needles. And then, I.... I blacked out. That's the last thing I can really remember. You see, these things have happened to me since I was taken by them. It's all I can remember. Those times when I was awake..." Her voice was increasingly becoming shakier.  
  
"There are so many missing spots. I can remember a lot when I was nine, but I can't remember at all when I was ten. I can only remember one day when I was eleven... The rest is all black. And they said I had amnesia... But, it happens so often, it's normal to me. I used to be afraid to go to sleep because I didn't want to wake up and find it was a year later or that I would wake up in boy's clothing or-" She was cut off by a short sob that escaped her lips. She couldn't take any more of these memories.  
  
By this time, Dilandau was looking at her in complete shock. Her story sounded a lot like his, but he guessed that was natural if you were one of the lab rats they had used for so long. He looked on as her eyes became teary and she bit back threatening sobs. Honestly, he had no idea what to do since he was not around weeping girls very often, so he did the thing that common sense told him to and gently laid a gloved hand on her shoulder. Celena had regained some of her self-control by then and put her hand over his.  
  
Dilandau spoke up after a moment. "You told some of my story."  
  
Celena looked up with amazement shining clearly in her cerulean eyes. "You mean you were..."  
  
"One of the children," Dilandau finished, gazing into her eyes with empathy. "Yeah. I don't like to think about them much."  
  
Celena smiled and nodded. "Neither do I. Really though, I can't remember them all that well, but I can recall Jajuka."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I was going to ask you about him, too. I think I know his name from somewhere."  
  
"You probably do," she replied. "Some of the children knew him well. I did, anyway. He always took the best care of us, and he was so caring and warm and fuzzy."  
  
Dilandau almost wanted to laugh at that, but laughed on the inside while he kept a listening appearance on the outside. He did not especially like people that were "fuzzy", if there was such a thing. "Fuzzy?"  
  
Celena nodded. "Mmhmm. Fuzzy. He had a brown fur coat and-"  
  
"Fur coat?"  
  
"Yes, he looked like a dog, but he walked and talked like a man. He was just as big as a man too."  
  
Dilandau nodded. "That's, um, interesting. But, uh, I was wondering something else. Are you sure you can't remember last night?"  
  
"No, I can't. Everything is a blank from the time I told you about."  
  
Two of his fingers cupped his chin as he contemplated something. "Then I guess someone must have put you in my bed during the night. There can't be any other reason to how you got there. I certainly don't remember seeing you there when I went to sleep." He stood and walked over to Celena, suddenly leaning over and lightly catching her chin, slowly turning her head this way and that as he examined her features. "But I still don't understand why I don't feel I have met you before, but that I have dreamed of you." He smiled as Celena's expression turned to one of surprise. "Yeah, I have dreamed of you before, I know. It's a bit strange, isn't it? I had no idea who you were, never saw you before, never met you, yet I could see you in dreams." He released her chin and leaned on the armrests of the chair, bringing his face inches from hers. "But how can that be? Everything is strange about you, you know." Dilandau cocked his head to the side as he caught a worried sparkle in Celena's eyes. "You're just one big puzzle, Celena."  
  
"And you're one big puzzle yourself, Dilandau."  
  
Both Celena and Dilandau jumped away from each other as Folken's voice interrupted the air of unnoticed and unrealized tension. Dilandau looked slightly abashed, but covered it up quickly with a demanding voice. "How long have you been there?"  
  
Folken flashed him an amused smile and replied, "Long enough." He turned away from the fuming boy towards Celena. "I hope he has not been troubling you too much. I probably should have come a lot quicker if I knew Dilandau was making a hopeless attempt to catch a girl." He pointed to the open door behind him, and glanced contemptuously at Dilandau. "Out."  
  
The young albino growled under his breath. "Someday I'll teach you, Folken..." he muttered between clenched teeth and started to walk out when Celena surprisingly came to his defense.  
  
"No, he can stay. He's not a bother, really," she pleaded, hoping Folken would agree.  
  
Folken curiously looked from Celena to Dilandau and raised an eyebrow. "Why- "  
  
"You did want to find me somewhere to stay, didn't you? Maybe he can help, and he is not as bad as you make him out to be."  
  
Chuckling to himself, Folken reluctantly nodded. "I guess, but I think you had better take a closer look at our young soldier." He turned to Dilandau. "But if you make a false move, just one, you're gone."  
  
Dilandau glared at Strategos and moodily sat down in one of the side chairs while Celena sat down in her previous spot.  
  
"Now, as for room accommodations, I-"  
  
"I think I can help you there," Dilandau interrupted. "There is an empty bedroom two down from mine that she could take."  
  
Folken frowned at him. "That was one of my suggestions, thank you. There is also another bedroom next to Eriya's, if you want. You could take either. Oh, and also, I checked with the Captain and pilots earlier. We are returning to Zaibach in a few days. It will probably be close to the capital, so we can go buy you some clothes."  
  
Celena nodded. "That's good, but you don't have to. I don't mean to be a bother-"  
  
"Oh, you're no bother. Naria will probably want some more clothes anyway, she might take you if we can't," Folken replied.  
  
"Um, okay. Well, as for rooms, I think I'll take the bedroom near yours, Dilandau."  
  
His mouth became a smug grin as Dilandau looked back up to Folken. "Well, then, I'll show you where it is and you can get settled." He stood and motioned for Celena to follow him.  
  
She stood from her chair and walked towards Folken. "I will see you later then, Folken. Thank you."  
  
The two teenagers strolled out into the hall together, one leading and the other following. Folken's eyebrows furrowed together. "Dilandau, you... Uh, he's going to get on my last nerve one of these days," he grumbled, closing the door behind them.  
  
He paced over to his desk and started organizing the messy papers for the second time that day. He was examining his drawings that had seemed to be in a different spot than where he had left them. His attention was very absorbed when his hand, which was slowly swinging at his side, gently fell onto the book Celena had been reading earlier. He looked towards it and put the sketches to the side. "Hmm, I remember this. I fell asleep at night reading it. Hmm, I wonder if she can read." He turned his gaze to the closed door. His thoughts turned to the smug, fifteen-year old hothead who had been standing there a few minutes ago. "It's odd how Dilandau is acting. Perhaps she can straighten him out for once, merciless little boy." 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
It was late in the morning when a few of the Dragon Slayers decided to practice some of their skills, or better to say, try to teach Chesta to use a sword properly. Gatti helped with that while the others stood around chatting with each other.  
  
Guimel smiled as he thought of something. "Hey, have any of you seen that new girl that's been walking around the fortress?"  
  
Viole cocked his head at Guimel, his dark brown ponytail whipping behind him. "Girl? What girl? I haven't seen any girls aboard."  
  
Miguel looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, do you mean that one girl that was walking around with Lord Dilandau yesterday?"  
  
"Yeah, her." Guimel paused a moment, a dreamy expression on his face.  
  
Dalet chuckled. "She is pretty hot, isn't she?"  
  
Guimel nodded. "Uh huh. I wouldn't mind knowing her, although Lord Dilandau probably has her on a tight leash."  
  
"Don't say that about Lord Dilandau," Chesta started, turning away from his match with Gatti. "At least give him the benefit of the doubt." He wanted to say more but was cut off when Gatti took the opportunity to rush him, knocking him flat to the ground.  
  
"Don't lose concentration," Gatti reprimanded him as he held out his hand to help Chesta up. "Although I would like to know who she is, and what she is doing here."  
  
"Me, too," Guimel agreed. "Though, Chesta is right, I guess. And we might get to meet her later on."  
  
Miguel nodded and rubbed one wrist with his other hand. He paused and felt farther up his arm into his jacket sleeve when Dalet held up what he was looking for and quickly pulled his hand away. "Give me that back!" yelled a furious Miguel as he glared contemptuously down his nose at the shorter boy in front of him. "Damn you, Dalet! Give it back!"  
  
Just as Miguel's hand swept by him, Dalet pranced out of reach and waved the black and silver bracelet in the air. "Miguel has a bracelet!" he taunted repeatedly. He stopped after a moment and brought the chain closer to his face to examine it. There was an engraving in one of the long silver leaves. He squinted his violet eyes in order to read it, jumping back a bit as Miguel took another swing for it. "To the dearest son ever," he read and chuckled. "Oh, how precious. Miguel's mommy thinks he's dearest."  
  
This time, Miguel was successful in snatching away the prized possession. "That's none of your business, Dalet. I bet your mother wouldn't look twice if she passed you on the street."  
  
Behind them, the spectators hooted at the comment. Dalet shot them an angry glare that clearly stated to shut up.  
  
"Oh, and," Miguel continued as he slid the bracelet into his jacket pocket, "I also bet-"  
  
"YOU IDIOTS!" came a bellow from outside the doors of the room, cutting off whatever Miguel had to say. Footsteps were coming toward them, increasing in pace at every second. Every Dragon Slayer cringed, knowing what was going to be ahead of them.  
  
~.~  
  
"OUT! Leave me, you imbeciles!" one Dilandau Albatou cried as he finished kicking things around the room, and he stomped his foot upon the hard metal floor and pointed to the door, facing his groveling Dragon Slayers. All of them hurriedly stood from their bowing positions and scrambled out the door, rushing to get away from their outraged commander.  
  
Once the last of them had left, Dilandau plopped himself down upon his throne-like chair, breathing the hard, crisp air into his lungs in an attempt to calm his nerves. He looked around the room, frowned, and stood up again. He yelled out in rage and kicked the hard metal base of his chair, sending a painful quiver through his foot as his left boot met the brick-like material. Sitting down again, he massaged his now aching foot. His Dragon Slayers had disappointed him gravely that afternoon, failing their latest mission severely which was his main reason for anger. He let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his forehead temples to soothe the oncoming headache.  
  
"What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself, clenching his gloved hand into a tight fist. He was going to be laughed at for sure on this one; he just knew it! "Uh," he grumbled and slumped down, grabbing the bottle of Vino at his side.  
  
He felt around the end table while staring at the fluid motions of the wine in the bottle, finally glancing at the table when he only felt two wineglasses. "Great! Where's my bottle-opener?" Rampantly looking for it, he crouched down on his knees and searched around the floor. After a few minutes of frantically searching and calling out "Bottle-opener" as if it would come to him like a horse would, he threw his hands up in the air in defeat, almost letting go of the wine bottle. He turned quickly to his right and widened his eyes as his bottle opener magically appeared in front of his face, with a long, slender hand around it. He looked up and frowned as he came to see the hand was that of Celena, who standing in front of him. Unwillingly taking the bottle-opener, he grumbled a thank you and sat back down in his chair.  
  
"What are you doing down here? I thought you were going to the capital with the, uh, cat-girl," he remarked, pouring the wine in a glass for himself.  
  
"Well, there were some changes. Naria is busy. I can't find Folken. So, I thought, maybe, that you would take me shopping."  
  
Dilandau's garnet eyes shot open as the grape-flavored wine poured down his throat. He quickly pulled the glass away, sputtering and coughing. "Wha- What? What did you say?"  
  
Celena tilted her head and placed her hands upon her hips. "I asked you if you would come shopping with me."  
  
His expression turned to a grimace. "Uh, NO! No, I will not-"  
  
"Oh please, Dilandau? Please take me shopping? Folken gave me a lot of money and taught me how to use it." She gave him a begging-puppy look.  
  
He rolled his eyes skyward and sighed in annoyance. "Celena, I... just no! Okay? I'm sure there is someone else. Don't give me that look; I mean it!" He turned away from her and waited in silence a moment before grinding his teeth together in frustration. "Arrgh... You are sure there is no one else?"  
  
Celena shook her head and smiled sweetly. "Absolutely no one."  
  
He still kept himself turned to the side, avoiding Celena's pleading eyes while keeping his own garnet eyes glued to the floor. "Well, argh... Fine then!" She gave a shout of glee and raced towards Dilandau, throwing her arms around him when she reached him. Dilandau sat still as a statue, paralyzed with sudden shock at her reaction. She let go after a moment, not noticing as he mentally recoiled, and ran to the door.  
  
Once Dilandau had come out of his short shock, he winced and sneaked a sly glance over in Celena's direction. "Er, by the way, Celena." She turned back towards him as her fingers were almost on the door. Dilandau bit his lip and shook his head. "Don't tell anybody about this."  
  
~.~  
  
Twenty minutes later they were aimlessly wandering through the dusty streets of the city, window shopping as some might say. Every so often Celena would snatch Dilandau's wrist and pull him into another shop while he ducked and risked a short peep at the crowds, constantly worrying if anyone who knew him had spotted him. He promised himself that he would let Celena have half an hour. After that, he would make a headlong dash back towards the fortress, not caring if she followed or not.  
  
In truth, and he would hate to admit it, Dilandau was truly afraid of large crowds and people. The military was basically what he knew and his habitat: out of that habitat lay dangers for him that he either didn't want to face or just didn't want to know about. His life as a captain was fine for him. It did not make a true difference about what state of wealth you had, what past you had, or what future you had: just what you were in the moment.  
  
He mentally frowned as Celena dragged him into another shop, this one a boutique with a large selection of knick-knacks, books, and other miscellaneous items that Dilandau had no clue as to what they were. He turned to Celena and gave her a quizzical look. "I had presumed that we were looking for clothing."  
  
Celena nonchalantly shrugged and began fingering through some of the objects. "We have time. Besides, this might be the only chance I get to be out here."  
  
Dilandau had to agree. She did have a small point, but this trip still bothered him. Severely uncomfortable with his surroundings, he glanced around at the customers and crossed his arms as he impatiently waited for Celena to look around. He tapped his foot in agitation after a minute and ambled up to Celena's bent form. He looked over her shoulder and cleared his throat. "Are you considering buying anything?" Dilandau nearly laughed at himself. He sounded like a pushy saleswoman.  
  
Celena apparently did not notice and shrugged.  
  
"Oh. Well, hurry it up a bit then." He frowned and turned away, folding his arms across his chest once again as he leaned against the counter.  
  
"I will."  
  
Dilandau glanced over to her out of the corner of his eye, surprised at her reaction as he kept his expression neutral.  
  
~.~  
  
After a few minutes, Celena bought a small timepiece and, much to Dilandau's agitation, a thick, pale pink journal. "What do you need that for?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I've never had a journal before," she remarked, walking out of the store.  
  
"But why did you get the pink one? Why not the red one I showed you?"  
  
She smiled knowingly. "Oh, you mean the one with the black dragons all over it? That thing was ugly."  
  
Dilandau's jaw set into a determined line. "It was not ugly, besides I-"  
  
"Dilandau, watch out!"  
  
In the brief second that he had looked away, he had failed to notice that he was walking straight for a large water fountain. Before he could regain his balance, he tripped and fell into it, soaking himself in the process. "Ah! Well that, phhhfftt, was, phhhffftt, argh!" he exclaimed, spitting pond water out of his mouth.  
  
Celena frowned, set down her packages, and went to help him out as a few onlookers laughed. She glared at them before taking hold of Dilandau and pulling him to his feet on the cobblestone street again while he broke out in protest. "I can help myself, thanks," he quipped before shaking the water off his armor and out of his hair.  
  
"Sorry. I was just trying to help," Celena mumbled as she turned her stare to the ground. She turned around and let out a gasp. "Dilandau, my parcels are gone!"  
  
"What?" he yelled, searching the crowd. He spotted a young man dashing away from the scene, holding the parcels under his arms. His hands clenched into fists. "No one gets away from me!"  
  
He scrambled after the thief, quickly leaving Celena behind in the dust. "Stop, you!" he shouted and ran faster, gaining on the cutpurse as he went top speed. He tried to control his breathing, and his anger, as he dove on his prey, knocking them both to the ground and scattering the parcels about the street. Turning the thief over with rough hands, Dilandau clamped down on his neck and held him in a tight chokehold. "What do you think you are doing?" Dilandau seethed, bitter steel in his tightly reigned voice as he pushed down harder upon the thief's neck.  
  
The man below him desperately tried to pry away his hands, pale face turning a light blue tinge after several seconds. "W-W..D-d.."  
  
"What? I can't hear you!"  
  
"Dilandau, stop it!" Celena had arrived and was now also trying to pry his hands away before the thief suffocated. "Release him! He doesn't deserve this!" she pleaded with him as she placed her hands over Dilandau's.  
  
"Why? Why doesn't he deserve it? He stole from you!" he looked bewildered to her actions.  
  
"Please. Just let him go," she begged, trying desperately to release the choking man.  
  
With a scowling look, Dilandau pulled back his hands. The thief gasped as he stood and stumbled away, rushing to get away from the insane teenager. Dilandau sighed. "Great waste. He's getting away."  
  
Celena just glanced at him, disbelief written on her features, as she went to gather the packages that were scattered on the ground. Sighing, Dilandau went to help her.  
  
~.~  
  
Folken felt like scowling as the man in front of him scrunched his face into about five different expressions before giving his direct answer. "No."  
  
"I know it needs authorization, but-"  
  
"No." The man seemed veritable enough, though Folken was not going to tolerate a negative answer.  
  
He sighed. "Would you please retrieve one of the filers so I can sort this out with them? I would dearly dread to interrupt their work, but if necessary-"  
  
"All right, all right," the pointed little man interrupted, glancing around nervously, shifty and suspicious. "There is no need to interrupt them. If you absolutely need to have a glance at the files, follow me. But be quiet about this! If someone questions you, leave my name out of it!" He quietly slid off his stool behind the desk and grabbed a large ring of silver and iron keys that hung from a wooden hook on the wall. He walked around the desk and motioned Folken to follow him. Folken only nodded triumphantly and started walking after the hyperactive man, growing anxious to look through the files that would assuredly hold the answers. He was researching this on him own time, and he did not have much time to spare or dedicate.  
  
After advancing a few corridors and crossing some bends and curves along the way, they arrived at the door marked with a square symbol on the frame and entered the filing room. The small room was dim and dusty inside, showing the months of disuse and abandonment. Cabinets of hard metal and iron lined the walls, most of which had locks, all neatly organized and bare of clutter.  
  
The short man turned to Folken, quizzically looking over the taller, more formidable man. "Now what specifically are you looking for? Boy? Girl? Age? Filing number?"  
  
Folken took a step farther and looked around the room with a discerning glance. "Girl, around age fourteen or fifteen now. I can't say when the last record of her is. If my memory serves me correctly, the filing number should be somewhere around twenty-seven fifty."  
  
The man nodded and opened three of the drawers in the middle after unlocking them with one of the keys. "There you go. I'll let you have half an hour to search, then I'm kicking you out." With that said, he left to return to his desk.  
  
Folken sauntered up to the drawers, fingering through the first few folders while looking for anything that would lead him to Celena's file. His hands came to rest on several of the folders, and he pulled them out.  
  
"Snooping through files can be a very effective option, but I don't believe it is best suited for you, Strategos."  
  
Folken turned at the flat alto voice and nodded his head once at the man towering in the doorway. "Lavon."  
  
The man came forward into the light, revealing a head of short graying hair and a large black cape similar to Folken's. "What are you doing in this part of the fortress, old friend?"  
  
"Looking for a file, of course, but I think I might find better information from you. Do you remember anything about those experiments on children that you used to do?"  
  
Lavon nodded. "Particularly. Unfortunately, we discontinued our work with them a few years ago, shortly after the developments for guymelefs came into demand. Though, believe me, we are not going to stop doing medical experiments. Just more toned down ones. As you can imagine, that isn't by our doing. If the emperor demands it, we will do it, however he so chooses." He sighed before continuing. "Though it was rather sad that we had to discontinue our work with them. They proved rather well for what they were."  
  
Folken allowed no surprise to seep into his voice. "Why did you stop?"  
  
"We had better things to work on, I suppose. Besides, something went a little, ha, wrong with the projects. A simple factor was not looked at, so our work is canceled until that factor can be crossed."  
  
Folken leaned against the filing cabinets and set down the files. "And what factor would that be?"  
  
Lavon stepped forward to explain. "Well, you see, many areas of the brain, such as the cerebral cortex and areas of the cerebellum, began to swell in some of the children, and in others, the lower cerebral tissues began to dissolve, including some of the areas where action, emotions, and memory are controlled."  
  
"So the brain could not retain two personalities at once, if I am correct to say?"  
  
"Yes, exactly. Hormones, thinking skills, and chemicals were all wrong and too much for a singular human to contain. But there was another factor that was slightly missed. A more... numinous factor."  
  
Folken's eyebrows raised. "So you mean that-"  
  
"I am not saying that it has anything to do with souls or other unknown beings, but both the body and brain could not contain such extremities... and, well..." Lavon paused for moment, keeping his eyes transfixed to the floor. After some time he looked up again and slightly chuckled. "Well, it might seem a bit odd -I'm not saying that I personally believe it is true- but it seems that the two beings or souls or whatever split from each other, usually the created one remaining in the body while the original drifted outside of the body, and then... Oh my, well this is the hardest to explain, I guess... The original body of the first child began to materialize out of thin air, right around the original 'essence'."  
  
Folken stood there, not believing it to be true. Trying not to believe. 'But that would explain it,' he argued with himself. 'That would explain Celena's sudden appearance at the fortress, and that probably would explain Dilandau's personality.' He frowned and looked towards Lavon. "Well, I might take that into consideration. Thank you, Lavon. You have been more than helpful."  
  
Lavon slightly bowed and turned to leave, pausing when Folken's voice rang out again. "Lavon, do you happen to remember a small blonde girl that you worked on? She's probably fourteen or fifteen now. Goes by the name Celena."  
  
The older man looked towards Folken, thinking. "No, I don't believe I remember. Though if you want to find out about her, I wouldn't look in the cabinets. Most of the documents have been destroyed."  
  
Folken glanced down at the cabinet. "Oh. Well, thank you anyway."  
  
Lavon turned and left, leaving Folken in the filing room.  
  
"Well, that helped a lot," he muttered as he returned the files to their original place. Sweeping his cloak around him again, he glided out of the room and down the hall towards the entrance when one of the guards approached him.  
  
"Lord Folken, Emperor Dornkirk requests your audience. It is most urgent."  
  
~.~  
  
Celena was unusually quiet as they walked back to the fortress. Dilandau hated the silence, but he put up with it as best as he could. That is, until something from deep down in him was starting to nag at him.  
  
|Talk to her,| it taunted. |Tell her you're sorry.| Sorry? he asked himself. What did he have to be sorry for? The burglar had deserved what he had gotten.  
  
|Celena doesn't seem to think so. |  
  
"Shut up," Dilandau muttered as he grew agitated, his voice barely audible to Celena. She looked up to stare at him quizzically, still remaining quiet.  
  
Why had he tried to eliminate the burglar? It was just a few parcels after all. Wasn't such a big deal, so why had he gone after him the way he had? Perhaps he had done it because.  
  
Dilandau shrugged the thought off. It was no longer important why he did it.  
  
"Why did you do it, Dilandau?"  
  
Or maybe it was. Dilandau fleetingly glanced at Celena before turning his attention back to the street. He did not really feel like giving an answer to that question when he couldn't think of a reasonable answer to give. "I don't know."  
  
Celena frowned and also turned back to the street, leaving Dilandau again to his thoughts. He came back to the certain thought his conscience demanded of him. |Apologize.|  
  
'No.'  
  
|Say you're sorry. Say you shouldn't have tried to kill that man.|  
  
'Oh, come on. I was going to let him go after a minute.'  
  
Apparently, he spoke the last thought out loud, because Celena turned to him before exclaiming, "It didn't seem that way to me!"  
  
"Well, I'm sorry that I don't like to see you stolen from!" Dilandau shouted back, oblivious to what he said. Celena gawked at him in surprise before turning back to the street, dumbfounded.  
  
'Does he actually care about me?'  
  
~.~  
  
Once they arrived at the fortress, Dilandau led Celena back to her quarters before going up to the conference room, hoping to catch one of the high officials in order to complain about the crime rate in Zaibach.  
  
As he was climbing a set of stairs, he felt the fortress give a mighty quiver and a shake, knocking him from his feet to land on the stairs with a thud.  
  
He realized with sudden shock that the fortress was taking off from the dock. He hurriedly stood and rushed up the stairs, anxious to receive an explanation.  
  
A flight of stairs and few halls later, Dilandau stepped into the room he hoped Folken was in and was for once relieved to see Folken. A blank mask hovered upon the older man's face. "Strategos, why are we-"  
  
"Gear up. We're heading to Fanelia." 


End file.
